This vein of research—fascinating, but not altogether surprising—gives marketers better ammunition to argue what we’ve observed for a very long time: that brands are powerful instruments of influence. We modify our behaviors according to the mostly unnoticed but indelible imprint of brands. As the marketing professor Jonathan Schroeder commented, they “constantly develop prescriptive models for the way we talk, the […]

Could the key to sustainable business be changing corporate mindsets from a culture of “more” – more revenue, more profit, more market share – to one of “enough”?

Bangkok-based brand strategist Sirikul Laukaikul argued that’s the case in a presentation about an idea called the “sufficiency economy philosophy” at Sustainable Brands in San Diego, California, this week.

Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign. Chipotle taking a stand on factory farming, with an assist from Fiona Apple. Patagonia giving away boatloads of lightly worn clothing. These advertising campaigns all have one thing in common: They take corporate social responsibility (CSR) principles and deploy them in ways that are far more effective than traditional ads.

I first wrote about the branding bandwagon back in 2007, when it seemed that every large nonprofit I knew was spending serious money — and I mean hundreds of thousands of dollars — for corporate style tag lines, logos, commercial partnerships and strategies that they thought would attract media coverage and recognition from potential donors. At the time I complained […]

This weekend we had a party for my son, who turned one. This kid was not going to remember anything, so it was really a party for us. Still, it is customary in Vietnamese culture (and I hear Korean culture) that when a child turns one, an assortment of objects are placed in front of him. Each object represents a […]